Do more or fat chance Malaysia will reduce obesity, govt told

The Star

Published: Sunday March 30, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Sunday March 30, 2014 MYT 8:06:04 AM

BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government needs to be more serious in battling obesity, the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity says.

Its president Prof Dr Mohd Ismail Noor said that creating awareness and public education were not enough.

“At some point, the government has to be more serious about controlling the environment that encourages obesity.”

He said this yesterday after the official launch and opening of Nutrition Month Malaysia 2014 by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

Dr Mohd Ismail urged the local authorities to shut down all food outlets by midnight instead of allowing them to run 24 hours.

He said the argument that these outlets were kept open for night shift workers did not hold water because many youngsters were frequenting the outlets.

He noted that some countries had imposed a tax on sweet soda drinks.

While the Government needed to be more committed in battling obesity, he added it was also everyone’s responsibility and required a multi-pronged approach.

Asked whether the Health Minist­ry would limit the number of 24-hour food outlets, Dr Subramniam said the emphasis was still on educating people about good eating habits.

“You ban them or you educate people not to use them.

“Life’s temptations will always exist but you need to educate them,” he said.

As to why the Government had yet to create the healthy environment for people to walk or expend their energy (safe walk and bicycle paths along roadways) that was planned many years ago, Dr Subramaniam said the problem was in the implementation.

“There must be greater emphasis on adhering to government policy and guidelines by local authorities,” he said.

The National Health and Morbidity Survey revealed that the rate of obesity in Malaysia had increased by almost three and a half times, from 4.4% in 1996 to 15.1% in 2011.

This puts the number of obese Malaysians at around 2.5 million.

The Nutri-Fun Land Family Carnival is held at Mid Valley Exhibition Hall 1 in conjunction with the Nutrition Month. It ends today.

MH370 crash: Next-of-kin can start filing for insurance claims

The Star

Published: Thursday March 27, 2014 MYT 2:55:00 PM
Updated: Thursday March 27, 2014 MYT 2:57:22 PM

BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Next-of-kin of those on board the MH370 plane can start to file for life insurance claims now without having to wait for death certificates.

Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) president Vincent Kwo said that in view of the special circumstances of the tragedy, life insurance companies in Malaysia had agreed to accord special priority in facilitating and expediting claims payment.

“Once the proper claimant has been identified, payment can be processed within a week,” he said in a press statement on Thursday.

Malaysia Airlines MH370 was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 when it went missing from the radar screen 40 minutes into the journey.

There were 239 passengers and crew on board, and among them were 153 Chinese nationals, 50 Malaysians and seven Indonesians.

Kwo said that several of its 14 member companies had started to process life insurance claims for the next-of-kin of passengers and crewmembers on board MH370.

“As this tragedy involved many innocent lives, our LIAM member companies are committed to providing our best support and assistance to the family members during these difficult and emotional times,” he said.

LIAM expressed its heartfelt condolences to the family members and friends of the passengers and crewmembers on board MH370, he said.

Earlier, initial checks had indicated that 47 out of 50 Malaysians (comprising 38 passengers and 12 crew members) had life insurance policies with 14 life insurance companies in Malaysia, however, it had been ascertained that six non-Malaysians were also insured with LIAM members.

Family members or next-of-kin of policyholders could contact LIAM at 03-26916628 or email liaminfo@liam.org.my if they wish to find out which insurance company that their loved ones were insured with.

Formed in 1974, LIAM is a trade association registered under the Societies Act 1966.

It has a total of 16 members, of which 14 are life insurance companies and two life re-insurance companies.

On Thursday, it was reported that the families of those on board the plane could also begin to obtain a death certificate even though their bodies were not found.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo said that death certificate could be issued to the families even if the bodies were not found.

Section 329 (6) of the Criminal Procedure Code provided for inquests where body of deceased was believed to be in a place from which it cannot be recovered, he said.

However, a question arises as to whether the magistrate had the jurisdiction to hold an inquest since the incident took place outside Malaysian jurisdiction, he said.

IJN testing new pacemaker

The Star

Published: Friday March 21, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Friday March 21, 2014 MYT 10:20:31 AM

BY LOH FOON FONG

New technology: Dr Razali showing the smallest pacemaker in the world at IJN.

   

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KUALA LUMPUR: The world’s smallest pacemaker that looks like a small battery, the diameter of a 50 sen coin, is now being tested at the National Heart Institute (IJN).

IJN consultant cardiologist and electro physiologist Datuk Dr Razali Omar said the device called Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) would not require the use of wires, known as “leads”, to connect it to the heart.

“It is less invasive than the current pacemaker as it does not require a surgical incision in the chest and the creation of a ‘pocket’ under the skin,” he told a press conference yesterday to announce the clinical trial that IJN was participating in.

A pacemaker is a small device placed in the chest or abdomen to help control abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) by sending electrical pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate.

Dr Razali said the TPS, one-tenth the current pacemaker’s size, is placed in the right ventricle of the heart through a catheter inserted in the femoral vein. Attached to the heart via small tines, it delivers electrical impulses that pace the heart through an electrode at the end of the device, he said.

The TPS was implanted on four patients yesterday and the IJN would carry out a total of six to seven implants as part of a global clinical trial conducted by a medical device company based in the United States, he said adding that IJN carried out 500 implants a year using the current pacemakers.

While the current pacemaker could be seen bulging from the skin and easily damaged if one falls on it, the TPS was less likely to be damaged, he said.

Dr Razali said the use of the device could showcase Malaysia’s expertise level and ensure that Malaysians need not go overseas for their treatment while promoting Malaysia as a destination for medical tourism.

Complaints against telcos on the rise, says Fomca

The Star

Published: Saturday March 15, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Saturday March 15, 2014 MYT 7:09:34 AM

BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: Complaints against telecommunications service providers have not only increased, but top the list of consumer complaints received by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca).

Fomca communications dispute resolution and resources mobilisation director T. Saravanan said it received 5,985 complaints in 2012, which is estimated to be at least 5% more than 2011.

The most common complaints are related to billing disputes, charges for unsubscribed services, poor line connections, unsolicited short messages, breach of privacy, and so on, he said.

“We receive complaints relating to telcos every day. It is quite serious,” he said during the launch of Fomca’s “Fix Our Phone Rights” campaign in conjunction with World Consumer Rights Day 2014 here yesterday.

Saravanan said roaming data charges costing a few thousand ringgit remained a concern, while Fomca legal executive Nurul Husna Mohd Yusof highlighted a case where a customer allegedly made a call for only one minute but was charged for one hour.

In Malaysia, 4.5 million households have mobile phones, making the cellular penetration rate 143.3 per 100 persons.

Saravanan said Fomca had set up fixourphonerights on Facebook, which it hopes will garner at least 100,000 likes.

It also planned to submit a memorandum to the Malaysian Communications and Multi­media Commission and telcos to highlight the issues concerned, he said.

Psychologist: Kin of passengers and crew getting more distraught

The Star
By P. ARUNA and LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The families of passengers and crew members of the MH370 flight are getting more and more distraught each day, said an expert tasked with aiding the relatives.

Clinical psychologist Paul Jambunathan described the situation at Everly Hotel in Putrajaya, where the next of kin have been placed, as “chaotic and highly emotionally driven”.

As the wait for answers continued, he said, the level of emotions also intensified.

“It will only get worse as the probability of survival decreases,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Jambunathan also said that he was concerned about whether the “counsellors” assigned to help the families had the necessary expe­rience to handle such a situation.

“It is a major concern for me that most of them have had no ‘trauma’ experience of this nature.

“Two of them who engaged in discussion with me have never even lost a friend or family member in death.

“I am not saying that one must have had such a background but it is very necessary to provide consistent professional support and not just piecemeal assistance,” said Jambu­nathan, who is attached to a Kuala Lumpur hospital and is a senior­ lecturer at Monash University in Bandar Sunway, Selangor.

In such situations, he said it was crucial for those helping the families to show empathy, instead of sympathy, adding that one of the methods used to help the families would be psycho­education on the various possible outcomes.

“We should not be setting ourselves up for another traumatic experience if ‘bad news’ arrives. We must identify ‘denial’ and start reali­ty,” he explained.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, too, said some of the family members were experiencing acute stress.

He also said the families were being given counselling by the ministry’s­ mental health and psychosocial response team.

“They are experiencing anger and acute distress at certain times.

“However, generally they are coping well with the difficult situation,” he said via SMS yesterday.

Dr Noor Hisham said 11 Malaysians and a New Zealander, including seven women, had sought counselling from the team led by mental health experts based at the hotel.

“They are suffering from hyperventilation, anxiety attacks and acute stress reactions,” he added.

Dr Noor Hisham said a pregnant woman had been referred to hospital for hyperventilation.

Despite the stress they expe­rienced, the family members were coping fairly well and had not shown any symptoms or signs of severe emotional distress, he said.

“Most of the crew members’ children have not shown any psychological symptoms. Family members said this could be due to them being frequently apart from the parents because of the nature of their job.”

Dr Noor Hisham said counselling was offered to all families and next of kin, and through these sessions they were able to identify cases that needed psychiatric or medical attention.

He added that the ministry was also providing psychosocial support to caregivers of the family members from the Special Assistance Team of Malaysia Airlines.

Missing MH370: Anjung Tinjau no longer used for families of MH370

The Star
BY LOH FOON FONG

SEPANG: Anjung Tinjau at Level 5 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport will no longer be used as the Family Friend Reception Centre and holding area for the MH370 passengers’ family and next-of-kin.

Malaysia Airports informed that they are now accommodated by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) at designated locations, it said in an email press release Thursday.

It said that Malaysia Airports had also put up the Wall of Hope at the Anjung Tinjau for the public to express their hopes and prayers for passengers and crew aboard MH370 in writing, on the wall.

The public are urged to use appropriate venues such as mosques or places of worship for prayers, it said.

It was reported in the last few days that bomohs had gone there to perform rituals to help “locate” the missing MH370 and on Thursday, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) has come and said it would arrest those carrying out rituals that contravene the teachings of Islam should the bomohs refused to disperse at the KLIA.

Hike in medical fees done in secretive manner, say employers

The Star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The increase in the cap for private medical fees has taken employers by surprise.

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said it appeared to have been done in a secretive manner, and that the MEF and consumer interest groups had not been consulted about it.

“The Health Ministry should have talked to us because by law, employers have to bear the rise in medical costs for their employees,” he said.

Shamsuddin added that most big companies were generous enough to provide medical care for their workers, but the increase could push up the cost of doing business.

On Monday, it was highlighted that the medical fee revision as per the 13th Schedule of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Private Hospitals and Other Private Healthcare Facilities) Regulations 2006 was implemented without sufficient publicity and awareness.

The amendment, passed administratively by the Cabinet on Oct 12, 2012, raised the cap for professional fees, including for consultation and performance of procedures, of registered private medical and dental practitioners.

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) presi­dent Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan said the gazetting of the Cabinet decision was put on hold because the MMA had strongly objected to the quantum, which it regarded as marginal given it is less than half of the 30% increment that it had sought.

Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president Dr Jim Loi said general practitioners (GP) had problems covering their overheads, and the fee cap increase was much needed.

He said the cost of running a simple clinic was between RM11,000 and RM15,000 a month in urban centres such as the Klang Valley, Penang or Johor Baru.

A clinic seeing 500 patients a month and charging a consultation fee of RM20 per person would collect only RM10,000, which alone is insufficient to cover the overheads, Dr Loi said.

“It is likely that the average GP is surviving on the margins from medication he dispenses, and from consultations which are more complex, besides procedures such as electro­cardiograms, X-rays, ultrasounds and minor surgeries,” he said, adding that those struggling with overheads could end up working seven days a week, clocking in at least 12 hours on a typical workday.

Related story:

More seeking treatment at Klinik 1Malaysia now

Health Minister’s father dies

The Star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam’s father, KV Sathasivam, has died after a long illness.

One of Sathasivam’s sons, Palanivel, a lawyer, said that his father died in his house in Petaling Jaya at 9.45pm on Thursday.

He was was 84.

"He had not been well and had been hospitalised the last two months and we took him home when his condition took a turn for the worst," he said.

KV Sathasivam.

Palanivel said that Sathasivam had been a good father and had guided his children well.

He said that Sathasivam was a retired assistant registrar of trade unions in Malacca, Johor and Negri Sembilan, which came under the jurisdiction of the then Labour Ministry in the 1970s and the early 1980s.

"My father was very active in social and religious activities, and we are blessed to have had a father like him who guided us well," said Palanivel.

Sathasivam was also the Hindu Youth Organisation chairman in Penang in the 1960s and years later, Dr Subramaniam became the national vice-president before he went into politics, he said.

Sathasivam was also the former Hindu Sangam chairman in Malacca, Sepramaniam Throupathi Amman temple chairman in Malacca and the Temple of Fine Arts Malacca chairman in the 1980s.

Sathasivam leaves behind his wife S. Kalyani, 77, children Subramaniam, 61, Nallakumar, 59, Namasivayam, 54, Palanivel, 53, Shanmugam, 52, and nine grandchildren.

The funeral will be held at 11.30am Saturday at his residence at 429, Lorong Satu, Ujong Pasir, Malacca.

Among those who had visited the family and paid their last respects to the deceased on Friday were Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron, former MIC president Datuk Seri Samy Vellu, Malacca Yang di-Pertua Tun Datuk Seri Mohd Khalil Yaakob Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and Health Ministry officials.

Medical schedule shows hikes of more than 200%

The Star

By LOH FOON FONG

foonfong@thestar.com.my

Costlier services: A list of charges put up at a clinic in Pandan Jaya in Kuala Lumpur. — AZMAN GHANI/THSET

PUTRAJAYA: Private medical fees are up, but there is confusion over the exact percentage of the rise.

While the Health Minister said the increase has been capped at 14.4%, – less than half the amount the Malaysian Medical Association had requested – the medical schedule showed hikes of a more than 200% on certain fee ceilings.

Consultation fees, for instance, increased from a range of RM10-RM35 to a new range of RM30-RM125.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, however, said the fees were the maximum amount that doctors were allowed to charge and they were free to charge less.

“Those (in the fee schedule) are the maximum rates. We are protecting the people from being charged exorbitantly by the private sector,” he said here yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam said the ministry had rejected the Malaysian Medical Association’s request for a 30% increase.

He added that the 14.4% increase was reasonable given that the inflation rate was around 23%.

On Monday, an online news portal highlighted that an amendment to the 13th Schedule of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 had been implemented in a hush manner.

The Private Hospitals and Other Private Healthcare Facilities Regulations 2006 of the Act, which was published in the federal gazette on Dec 16 last year, provides for the maximum chargeable fees for registered medical and dental practitioners practising in private hospitals in terms of their professional fees such as consultation and performance of procedures.

These fees were based on Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) Schedule of Fees 4th Edition 2002.

Dr Subramaniam also said that the previous minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai did keep the public informed of the increase in July 2012 and the fee schedule was brought to the Cabinet and approved on October 12 the same year after consulting various stakeholders.

The Ministry directed to review the fee schedule in Sept 2010.

He was asked why the new fee schedule was not made public when it was concluded or gazetted.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah explained that the 14.4% increase was the average fees for surgical and dental procedures.

He said the doctors’ consultation charges that was increased from a range of RM10-RM35 to a new range of RM30-RM125 took into account of the rental costs in different locations.

Dr Subramaniam said the market forces were expected to determine the fees.

“The people are encouraged to be prudent and discerning and seek treatment at private facilities charging reasonable rates,” he said.

The other components of the hospital charges such as fees for accommodation, laboratory investigations, nursing care, use of equipment, operation room and drugs used were not regulated due to the varying costs in operating and maintaining a private hospital in different areas, he said.

The new medical fees schedule is the first revision since it was regulated in 2006. The fees had been recommended by the MMA since 2002, he said.

Employees may need to cough up cash too

It just got more painful for mum-to-be with increase in procedure fee

Increase in medical fees acceptable, says MMA

BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The new increased medical fees following the amendment to the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 are considered acceptable by the Malaysian Medical Association.

Its president Datuk Dr NKS Tharmaseelan said that MMA had been waiting for the increase for 12 years as the prices of drugs, laboratory fees and petrol had increased.

"There is a misconception that GPs are raking in lots of profits when they were actually scraping the bottom of the barrel these days," he said in an e-mail reply.

More than 500 stand-alone general practitioner clinics had closed down or had been bought over by large chain-clinics or business corporations in the last few years, he said.

On Monday, an online news portal highlighted that amendment to the 13th Schedule of the Act was published in the Federal Gazette on Dec 16 last year and implemented in a hush-hush manner.

It reported that the new consultation fees for a general practitioner had increased to between RM30 and RM125, as opposed to RM10-RM35 previously, while a visit to a specialist now costs up to RM235 for consultation alone, nearly double the previous cap of RM125.

Fees for medical procedures, however, increased between 14-18%.

Dr Tharmaseelan also said that while the increase did not reflect inflation rates since 2002, fees on newer procedures were not included in the revised schedule as proposed by MMA and would be left unregulated.

MMA president Datuk Dr NKS Tharmaseelan.

He also said that doctors do not get all the fees charged for services - for short surgical procedures, the ratio might be 40:60 of the total bill for specialist and hospital respectively while for more complex procedures and long staying patients, it might be as low 20-25% for specialist, while the rest were hospital charges.

Moreover, third-party administrators such as managed care organisations (MCOs) often negotiate a discount of 10% to 15% on doctors' fees for hospitals without the consent of the doctors.

"There should be more transparency about the charges," he said.

Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president Dr Jim Loi said that in the past, a general practitioner in a standalone clinic was able to earn a monthly net income of RM40,000 in the Klang Valley, but it had since dropped to RM15,000.

He added it posed a challenge to them as they too had to pay mortgages and send their children to colleges.

He said the more worrying trend was the increase in drug prices - including generic drugs - every few months and doctors had been absorbing the cost.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association deputy president Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah said that the Government must justify the high fee increase.

He said that currently, there were doctors who still charge RM15 for consultation and if that was the case, that should be made the fee for the lower ceiling.

"Why must the lower ceiling increase from RM10 to RM30? That is a 300% increase," he said adding that it was considered price-fixing when the price is set higher than the market floor price.

He also said that drug supply should be made open tender and not monopolised by Pharmaniaga Bhd.